Soul's Fate
by LaLaina
Summary: The meeting with Klaus ends in a tragic death ...
1. Unwanted Guests

Chapter 1: _Unwanted guests_

"We're just protecting you! What's wrong with that?"

Stefan was furious. Elena could understand why. But if he was not giving up trying to protect _her_, than she wouldn't back down either and would carry on with protecting _him_.

"I don't want to be saved. Not if it means your death!"

She knew that they sounded childish and so sickly loving as in all those soppy romance movies. Now she saw why Damon always rolled his eyes at them. It really was annoying.

Stefan let himself fall next to her on the couch.

"Our lives mean nothing to us without you. Damon, tell her this; she is not listening to me!"

Her eyes darted over to the silent vampire across the room. It was a surprise that he had been quiet for so long. He had watched their discussion without any comment. But as she looked into his blue, intense eyes, she instantly knew that he would have the last word in regard to this whole thing.

"I die for you, Elena. If you are going to sacrifice yourself, than I will be the one who stands between you and Klaus; between you and your death. He'll have to kill me first before he can get to you."

His voice was quiet and still, no emotion showing. Other than to everything Stefan had said, there we're no words for Damon. She was just staring at him, her mouth hanging open.

"You … you can't do this! You're not going to die because of me!"

Now she was just as furious as Stefan had been. Damon's words had the effect Stefan was hoping for.

"Elena, that's exactly what I'm trying to tell you: You're worth dying for!"

"Why are we arguing about this again? We already went over it, you're not dying for me and I'm not chan…"

Glass splintered. Elena cried out. From everywhere were vampires coming at them. Seven of the vampires were using vampire speed to circle the two Salvatore brothers, but didn't even shot a look at Elena. An eighth vampire was coming at her direction, not threatening but still he made no attempt to stop.

Stefan in the meantime took a few steps in the direction of Elena, probably to protect her. Anyway he was stop by two of the vampires who grabbed his arms. He immediately started to fight them of, but with his animal blood diet and the just small amount of her blood in his system, he had no changes against those far older vampires.

Damon on the other hand was a whole different story. The five remaining vampires had a hard time getting hold of the older, but smaller Salvatore. All of the attacking vampires were more than half a head taller than Damon and about five hundred years older, but still Damon kept his ground. While four vampires distracted him, the fifth one was approaching Damon in his blind spot. Elena could see the Vervain dart in the vampire's hand.

"Damon, behin … mphf …"

The vampire next to her grabbed her quickly and put a big hand on her mouth to silent her. She tried to get her head out of his hold to warn Damon again, but he kept his hand on the struggling head in place. Stefan had already become aware of her situation and was now trying to break free. He also was held in place.

"Get your hands off of her!"

Stefan hadn't been screaming, but his voice trough his clenched teethes had been loud enough. It distracted Damon immediately. And his opponents saw the weakness and used it to their advantage. Two men tossed themselves on him and together they went struggling down to the ground. Damon was held down to the ground by his arms and Elena could see the swift movements of the Vervain holding vampire. Within an instant he was by Damon's side and raised the dart.

Elena could see the fear in those lightning blue eyes, but it was instantly replaced with anger. And in the moment the vampire struck, all what Elena saw in Damon's eyes was pain. His movements got slower and after one last hateful glance at his captor his body went limp. His eyes slowly closed.

The vampires still didn't move one step, but after it was obvious that Damon wouldn't move they started to get up and took position.

Elena paid no attention on her surroundings; all she could focus on was the lifeless form of the vampire who had tried so desperately to defend her. It was her fault. She looked over to Stefan and saw that he tempted to lose the grip that the older vampires had on him to reach his brother.

"No, no, no! Let me go! Damon!"

She understood his desperation. She felt the same inside her heart. Damon had been defeated; she had never thought to see this day coming. But here it was and they could do nothing to help him.

Softly chuckling from behind her caught her attention. She saw from the corner of the eye that Stefan's whole focus was still on his motionless brother. But every thought of the two vampire brothers were instantly forgotten when she saw who was approaching from the shadows.

It was a man. He was pretty tall, probably about 2 feet taller than Stefan. His hair was so blond, that it seemed almost white. Elena knew that he was a vampire, but she could feel the power that was coming from his body. He was far more powerful than Damon, and to say that Damon wasn't powerful was a huge and deadly understatement.

Grey eyes locked on Elena. His look was terrifying. She never saw anything as cruel as this before. She wanted to back up, but the vampire held her in place. The powerful vampire smiled at her; she never saw a more heartless smile than his.

"Elena Gilbert. Mhm, the doppelganger. What a pleasure to meet you … and your friends."

He shot a short look to the two vampires.

"Klaus. The original. What displeasure to meet you."


	2. Klaus

Chapter 2: _Klaus_

All Elena could do was staring in shock. She couldn't believe that the oldest vampire in history was standing right before her. She never doubted that Klaus existed, but seeing him right in front of her was a whole different story.

And in this very moment Elena realized something horrible. Klaus was here, which meant that he was ready for the sacrifice. He was here to pick her up, because she was the last missing element. And now that she was in his possession, nobody would be able to stop him from his plan.

Elena still stared in shock. She looked her own death directly in the eyes. She was not ready to die yet. She had thought she was. She had been wrong; so very wrong. Of course she didn't want her beloved ones being hurt, but if that meant she had to die, she wasn't sure if she could sacrifice her own life for the others. She was only seventeen. She had all her life to live. But no, some stupid witch decided that Elena had to be the one dying.

She felt tears in her eyes. She would never have children, she would never marry, she would never die a peaceful death. All those normal things would be ripped from her by some stupid vampire who wanted nothing more than seeing werewolves in pain. Why was life so unfair?

She looked over to Stefan. She could see him gaze at the old vampire. There was fear in his eyes, but it was just a small amount. Stefan's green eyes flashed in anger. He wanted nothing more than attack the vampire who just took down his older brother and was going to murder his girlfriend. Elena knew that Stefan wouldn't give up, even if their situation looked as bad as it did in this moment. He had made this clear when they went on their little lake vacation. He would still keep on fighting for her.

And with him as her support, she would fight too. She had given up any hope for her survival when she heard about the fate of the doppelganger. Katherine had made her decision and turned, but Elena had decided that dying was better than see her loved ones die. But now she doubted her decision. She wanted to life. As all her friends did.

Elena just made a new decision. She would survive.

Klaus took more steps in her direction. He still smiled at her with this cruel smile. Elena wondered how old he really was. Rose had said that he was the oldest vampire alive but she never told her his true age. Elena had met more than a few vampires so far. From the important vampires in her life, Caroline was probably the youngest, followed by Isobel. Damon kind of turned both of them, but Stefan and Damon were next on the scale of the age of the vampires. When she first met them, she saw them as the oldest persons she knew since they both were around a hundred and seventy year old. Then she met Katherine, Pearl and Anna who were around five hundred years old, followed by Rose who had been just slightly older. Klaus was far older than all of them together, what made him not only _one_ thousand years old, but a _couple_ of thousand years.

"Oh my. She is talking back, how cute."

The blonde man had reached her in the meantime. He was circling her and looked at her in curiosity. He bended down slightly and breathed in her sweet smell. Elena's breath began to quicken but she stood completely still and let Klaus continue with his check on her. She would not show fear and weakness in front of him, she would keep up the strong image of the fearless doppelganger. Klaus chuckled lightly.

"I smell your fear, little Elena. You can't hide it. But your effort is still amusing.  
I never thought I would see another Petrova. But here you are. Katerina and her oh so well hidden secret. How fortunate for me. Are you going to make the same mistake as Katerina did? Are you going to watch your family and friends die, just as she did?"

Klaus didn't expect an answer. He just wanted to scare her. And hell, it did scare her. When she had listen to Katherine telling her what Klaus did to her family, Elena had this imaginary picture in her mind. She saw all her friends dead; their throats ripped out and their corpses bloody. She had seen Caroline, Matt, Tyler, Jenna, Alaric and Jeremy. All people that she loved and trusted, she saw them dead because they meant something to her. She saw Bonnie, her best friend, her constant companion, the most trusted person in her life. She couldn't bear seeing Bonnie dead. But the worst of all those pictures was the one with Stefan and Damon being staked. They were her life and if they died she had nothing to life for. She would do everything she could to prevent them from dying.

And all she could do in the moment was being strong for them and hold Klaus's gaze. At least Stefan saw her being fearless in the moment. Damon was still unconscious and would probably still be out for the next hours. But when he woke up, she would assure him in the same way she did Stefan right now.

Klaus frowned when he was met by Elena's unforgiving stare. Apparently he had not expected to be met with resistance. His grey eyes bored into Elena's brown ones but she didn't back down. Klaus smiled.

"You're strong, little human. So strong. More powerful than Katerina was or ever would be. Let's see how strong."

He turned away from her, still smiling. He quickly crossed the room and approached his fellow vampires who held Stefan in a firm grip. Klaus came to a stop directly in front of the smaller and younger vampire. Stefan had to look up to meet Klaus gaze, something he wasn't used to since even his older brother was about two inches shorter than he himself. But the changed circumstances of the normal feeling of a new meeting didn't hinder Stefan to return the judging look of the older man. When even Elena showed that she did not fear the dark stranger, he could do the same. But still, there was this voice in the back of his mind, whispering that he made a bad mistake by not giving Klaus enough respect. If Damon had been around, he would have mocked Stefan and told him that he was being so pathetic again. But there was no way to not fear the tall warrior in front of him.

Klaus still inspected the motionless face of the younger man. He laughed when it was clear that Stefan wouldn't show any sign of angst.

"Keeping up with your girlfriend, young Salvatore? What would your father say when he could see you like this, imitating a woman? Oh, he would not have been pleased. … Still no reaction? How frustrating."

Stefan had kept on gazing at the man, not even blinking at the mention of his once so beloved father and later never forgiven murderer. Klaus shot a short smile to the couple and said with a playful voice:

'Well, then. Let's get to the shatter point."

And with that he made his way over to the unmoving form of Damon. And that was the point when the life came back into Stefan and Elena's bodies. Stefan began to struggle again and growled lowly.

"Get away from him! Don't you dare touch him."

"So overprotective of your older brother, Salvatore. Shouldn't he be the one protecting you?"

While speaking, Klaus continued his march. He reached Damon and squat next to him. He reached out to pet Damon's cheek and all Elena could do was whispering a small "No!" before Klaus's large hand rested on her vampire's pale cheek. Something inside of her screamed. She felt like she betrayed Damon by just letting Klaus touch him. Nobody was allowed to do so except for her, Stefan and those people Damon trusted. Klaus defiantly was not one of them. She hated Klaus with every single bit of her being. But most of all, she hated herself for failing Damon. Because that was exactly what she had done; she had failed him. She felt new tears running down her cheek.

Stefan next to her was getting berserk. The two men holding him were having a hard time not letting go of him. He punched and kicked, using all energy left in his body to get free. He fought and bit, cursing the whole world around him.

Klaus looked up from Damon's white face and watched the devastated couple.

"We just found their weakness."


	3. Promise!

Chapter 3: _Promise_

It made her sick, seeing Klaus so close to Damon. She wanted nothing more than rush over to them and cradle Damon's still form in her arms and never let go. She couldn't let Klaus harm the young vampire. Damon was defenseless and it was Elena's and Stefan's job to protect him.

"Stay away from him. He is no threat to you. Please, just let him go."

Elena's voice trembled with fear, but nevertheless she brought some tightness into it. She always got what she wanted and in the moment she wanted nothing more than her Damon unharmed in her arms and out of Klaus's reach. Klaus eyed her in curiosity and started to slowly get up.

"You're scared for him. Why? Is it because what and who I am or is it because of who he is? Or better, because of what he means to you?"

The vampire left Damon's side and stalked over to her. Elena didn't care that the most dangerous being in the world was approaching her; actually she didn't care what he was doing at all as long as he left Damon and was no longer a danger to him. She remembered her vow; she would not let Stefan and Damon die. She would rather take a knife and plunge it in her stomach than watch her beloved vampires being staked.

"Listen, Klaus. Take me. I'm willing to come with you. I won't run. I'm ready to do the sacrifice."

The look on Klaus's face told her that he was incredibly amused by her. He could kill the two men and still have Elena not running. This negotiation was unnecessary, Elena would die either way. But all Elena could think about was the safety of the Salvatores. Forgotten were all those promises of surviving, forgotten all those vows to keep on fighting. It was not worth the risk of harming Stefan and Damon.

"Let them go, and I will come with you. Just leave them alone and everything will be the way you wish."

Klaus stopped and looked at Elena. He stood in the middle of the room for almost a minute, not moving at all. Elena was wondering what he was thinking, if he even thought about her offer. It was stupid to hope that she had any power over him, but still it was that little hope she clung to when she watched the motionless vampire. Klaus began to smile.

"Why, you think you can negotiate? How stupid. If I leave those two unharmed, where would be the fun? Oh no, little Elena. That's not going to happen."

Fear filled Elena's heart. There went the last opportunity for saving their lives. She knew that it had been over for her, as soon as she saw Klaus approaching. But she had never thought that Stefan and Damon's lives would be ended along with hers.

"Let's get going. Thomas, you take the dark one. Jonathan and Nick, the younger one. And Sherman, you take the girl. Be careful, she is of great significance."

And with those final words, Klaus turned and headed out the door. Two of the vampires grabbed Stefan by his arms and pulled him behind their leader out of the house. Another of Klaus's accomplice took hold of Damon and swung the smaller and lighter body over his shoulder. Damon was carried right behind Stefan out of the Salvatore Manson. Elena followed them automatically, but she had only taken two steps when she was caught by a tall man who pulled her quickly out of the door and in the direction of a black Mercedes.

There were four cars parked in the house's parking lot. There was this low black C-Class to which she was being pulled right in this moment. Next to it was a huge black SUV and she could see Stefan being pushed into the back of the car. The tall vampire with Damon on his shoulder approached the third car, which was a brand-new black Chevrolet Camaro. This was too ironically, since next the muscle car Damon's own light blue, older Camaro was parked. How much did Elena wished, she could just jump into the beloved car of Damon, get her boys and drive off.

The vampire next to her opened the back door of the car and pushed her in. Elena landed roughly on the backseat and quickly got into a sitting position when she felt the man getting in the car next to her. The engine of the car came to life with a soft humming. The car was fast, they were out of the county in just about five minutes. Elena tried to peek out of the window but the glass was tinted so dark that she could see nothing except some dark, moving shadows.

They drove about three hours and because of the fact that she had no possibility to see the surrounding, she had no clue where they were heading. The silent in the car was too much to bear after those hours and Elena almost felt relieved when the car slowed down and pulled over. When it came to a total stop, the vampire next to her grabbed her arm and pulled her out. She saw the two other cars approaching and Stefan and Damon were dragged after her. Damon was still out. Elena didn't expect Damon to be conscious, but seeing him still pale and motionless made her heart ache.

In front of her was a huge building. She recognized it from the architecture as an ante bellum house. It looked beautiful and Elena would have been excited to have the opportunity to see a house like that from the inside, if there would not have been the fact that she had been kidnapped and dragged here.

Since it had been late when she met the Salvatore brothers at their home, it had already been dark when they were forced out of the house. There was no threat from the sun for the vampires left. Elena had seen that Klaus was wearing a sun protection ring, but she also saw that all the other vampires didn't have one. But this problem was banished with nightfall.

The man shoved her through the door and entered as well to push her in the direction of the down leading stairs. Through a short glance over her shoulder Elena could see that Stefan had no problem with entering which obviously meant that there was no living person in this house. Great, just great. Nobody knew where they were and there was no one in reach to warn. They were totally screwed.

Her vampire guard pushed her down the stairs and into a small room without any lights. She was pushed against the wall and she felt the metallic bonds that chained her against the cold wall. She heard the light snap when the bonds locked. And that was it. Her heart grew cold.

Stefan was chained right next to her, but he struggled and tried to get away. He was still far too weak and had no chance against the vampires. He tried anyway. His head hit the wall hard when one vampire pushed him. The time Stefan was unfocused used the men to lock him up. The last vampire had an easy job tying up Damon, whose chin dropped to his chest. The vampires left the room after they're were done with their work. The door slammed shut behind them and darkness surrounded Elena.

She heard Stefan sigh next to her. Elena wasn't able to see anything through the darkness, but she knew that the vampire could see her far better than he would see her in the sunlight.

"Elena? Are you okay?"

She closed her eyes and wished she could lean into Stefan's arms. To be able to hear him, but not reach him made her heart sink. She was frightened.

"Yeah. I am. What about you? How's Damon?"

"I'm fine. Damon … "She could almost feel him looking first at her and then to his older brother. "… is not. He needs blood. We have to get him out of here."

Elena almost laughed. _They_ had to get him out? How in heaven should they do this? They were stuck in here too. But in the moment she had only one thought, there was one thing she had to hear.

"Stefan. Promise me something."

She took a deep breath and looked over to Stefan. She could see his green eyes shining in the dark.

"Promise me, whatever happens, you are going to get out of here and live. Take Damon with you. You have to take care of him, okay? Promise me both at you get out of here alive. Promise me that!"

Green intense eyes bored into her own brown soft ones.

"Promised."


	4. Run!

_A/N: Sorry folks for the delay but I was kinda preoccupied. Some crazy guy decided to run amok at school, but don't worry nobody was hurt. This mixed my time schedule pretty much up so again I'm really sorry.  
Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys! Really appreciate this, so thanks again.  
And here is Chapter 4 for you...  
_

Chapter 4: _Run!_

The darkness around her began to frighten Elena. It displayed the end of her own life. And nobody in the whole world was strong enough to face his death without any fear. Elena was no exception. She was more scared than she had ever been.

She had closed her eyes some time ago and had tried to sleep despite their hopeless situation, but as soon as she closed her eyes a rush of pictures went through her head. She saw Caroline smiling at her, chatting about unimportant stuff like school, boys and of course Matt, but Elena saw her also crying about Damon using her, the breakup with Matt and the whole story about vampires and blood craving. She couldn't just die, she couldn't leave Caroline in such a cruel world. Caroline needed friends so that she could hold on to her humanity. Without Elena and Bonnie she would be lost.

And then there was Bonnie of course. She was Elena's best friend and would miss her probably the most. When they both were young, they did everything together. They were inseparable; where one of them was, was the other too. She couldn't think about a life without Bonnie and the same was true for Bonnie. The young witch would probably be lost in depression after Elena's death.

The thoughts about Tyler and Matt were just small. She never was close to Tyler and after he triggered the werewolf curse they were even more apart from each other. She didn't want to endanger her vampire friends. If Caroline wanted to put herself in danger, than it was her decision. But she would not drag Stefan and Damon into this. Well, of course they had to threaten Mason, but this had been their own fault. Matt would probably miss Elena, since they had been friends for all those years. He even was her ex-boyfriend. But Matt had Caroline, he would get over it.

She wasn't sure if Stefan would get over her death. She knew that he loved Katherine and that he had been devastated when he thought she died. But she also knew that he loved her more than he ever loved Katherine. Would he be able to move on? She wasn't sure, and in this moment she realized that she knew less than she thought she knew about her boyfriend. She knew that she loved him, and that he loved her, but this was not enough. There were so many lies. He never told her everything. She could never trust him with telling her the truth.

But Damon was a whole different story. He had never hided something from her. He told her the truth, and he didn't care how brutal it was. She could trust him with the truth, but she knew that trusting Damon had always two sides. Maybe he didn't lie to her, but he loved to leave out some parts of the truth. She had to read between the lines to see what he really was talking about. Not doing this would have been a deadly mistake which some people had already made and would never be able to talk about it ever again. When Elena was gone, who would be there to see the things in Damon that only she saw? Stefan trusted Damon more now that they worked for a common goal, but there was a huge different between Stefan's and Elena's view of Damon. With her gone, Damon would probably fall again. Something that she hoped would never happen again.

"Elena! Elena?"

Stefan's whispering voice brought her out of her reverie. She looked over to him and saw him watching her with wide eyes.

"It's Damon. He's waking up."

Instantly she turned her gaze over to the still motionless Damon and she could see that his chest was rising more than it did just a few minutes ago. She felt relieved when she saw his eyes flutter open. He would be okay again as soon as he would be out of here and with some blood in his system.

Damon's crystal blue eyes opened and he lifted his chin to shake his head. His unfocused eyes and the way his face was twisted in pain showed her that he obviously suffered from a terrible vervain headache. He groaned lowly and let his head drop again.

"Damon? Come on, Damon. Wake up!"

Her frightened voice made him look up to her and when he was able to focus on her face he tried to assure her with a smile to ease her panic.

"Why hello there, pretty lady. Nice to see you too."

Oh, he was irritating. She had been more worried than ever and all he would say was one of his sneaky comments. How much she hated it! But she couldn't deny that she was relieved to hear the strong, self-assured Damon.

"Uh. Could anyone tell me where we are and why we are here?"

Right, Damon had no idea what happened since the attack in the Boarding house. But Elena didn't really want to tell him the whole story. She was still shocked by the appearance of Klaus. So she let Stefan talk. He began to talk in a monotone voice and simply listed the facts.

"Well you see, we were attacked by those vampires and then Klaus showed up and took us here. And were probably all going …"

Stefan stopped and both he and his brother looked over to the door. They obviously had heard something. Carefully she whispered "Guys?"

"Someone's coming", came Stefan's reply and Damon added a soft "Human."

The basement's door opened with a squeak. A dark silhouette appeared in the room and closed the door again. He then turned and walked slowly in the direction of Damon. Elena couldn't see his face but his hesitation made obvious that he was scared of the vampire. Well, he should be. Damon was even vervained and chained dangerous. But all what Damon could do in the moment was watching the human man curiously. The man stopped in front of Damon and eyed him with the same hesitation as in his walk.

"They said you're dangerous. Nobody you wanna mess with. Never doubted that. But you're so young."

All Elena could was stare at the man. What was he doing? Doing small talk with the prisoners?

But after a minute of quiet starring, he reached up and took Damon's sun protecting ring from his finger. Damon growled. He hated it when someone took his ring. He felt vulnerable and she couldn't blame him. His ring was like her necklace. And when the man approached Stefan and took his ring too, she knew that she would lose her precious necklace too.

Elena closed her eyes when the man drew closer. She couldn't look him in the eyes. But when she felt cold finger close around her necklace, she opened her wide eyes and starred directly into brown, drugged ones. The man was not compelled; he did everything with a clear mind. Well, as clear as you could be when you were full with drugs. She felt a short pull on her neck and the life saving jewelry left his owner to vanish in the back pocket of the man's jeans.

And in this moment Damon took the opportunity. His low growl made the man turn. And Stefan's dark eyes began to widen instantly.

"Free Elena."

And those two little words made the man take the chains of her wrists. Elena dropped to the floor and began immediately to rise again. She stormed to the Salvatores but both of them tensed up and gazed at the closed door.

"Someone is coming! Elena, leave. Listen to me. You have to run."

Stefan's voice was tight with fear. His eyes bored into hers, but they didn't have any effect to her.

"No, I won't leave you. You come with me."

But Damon had other plans.

"Look at me, Elena. Look at me!"

Elena looked at Damon. She locked her gaze on his bright blue eyes. She could see his pupil widen, but then she could think of nothing else other than his soft voice. He was giving orders and she could only follow them. 'He compels me! Why is he doing this?' But every thought was stopped by his voice.

"Listen. Elena. Run. Don't look back. You hear? Run. Don't stop. We'll be okay."

'No, I don't wanna go! Damon, please don't do this.' But it was already too late. Her body followed his orders. She turned and ran. She tore open the door and fled out of the basement, never looking back. She reached the steps and more fell then climbed them up. Tears ran down her face. She had no time to wipe them away. She continued running, she didn't even looked where she ran. All she knew was that she couldn't stop.

But soon her survival instinct broke some of the compelling. She stopped breathless at a corner which led into a dark corridor. When she tried to catch her breath again, she thought about how she could escape from this house. For all she knew there could be countless vampires and also humans be here and she had no idea where the exit was. But still she couldn't take too long for considering since thanks to Damon all she really could think about was getting the hell out of here.

Elena took a long, shaky breath and pushed herself off the wall she had leaned against. She quickly found her balance again and turned into the darkness in front of her. She ran down the long hallway. She was only accompanied by her own quickened breathing and the endless, dark emptiness of the old house. She hadn't encountered any vampires yet but this could change. If she'd run into one of them, her escape attempt was doomed.

Her mind drifted away to her two saviors in the basement. It was all her fault that they were in this miserable position and she couldn't do anything to help them. All she could do was run and safe herself.

And in this very moment she turned around another corner and she saw it: the front entrance. The door was closed and there didn't shone any sunlight through the cracks in the old wood since it was the middle of the night outside. But still she would be a lot safer outside of the house, even if all the vampires could follow her. Outside she could escape. Here right in front of her was the way to her freedom and survival.

These thoughts pushed her to run even faster. She was so close. Just a few meters. Then she would be safe. But she wasn't fast enough. A dark figure approached the door and stood directly in her path. Skidding she came to a stop. The person in front of her who blocked her only escaping route was a vampire and he looked down to her with a hungry look in his eyes.

Frightened Elena took quickly a few steps back and turned to run in the opposite direction. She stopped dead in her tracks. She was surrounded by vampires and all of them eyed her with uncovered hunger in their eyes. Klaus stepped from behind two young vampires and approached her slowly. He stopped a few inches apart from her. And then he began to speak in his silky low voice which sent Elena shivers down her spine.

"Oh My. She decided to disobey. She decided to run. And I decided the punishment."


	5. Punishment

Chapter 5:_ Punishment_

A grin formed on Klaus's face, but not even a smile could make the innocent looking monster in front of her any less cruel. When Elena looked at him all she could feel was disgust. It wasn't the fact that he killed innocent people; she knew that Stefan had done it too, and Damon had never really stopped. Yes, Damon was ready to walk over bodies to get his goal, but he would not kill hundreds of people for a thing that he already had. Klaus didn't care at all; he just wanted to get a hit at his mortal enemies.

Elena could see why the werewolves wanted so badly to break the curse. Caroline had told her about Tyler's first transformation and how much it must had hurt. She wanted to help Tyler, but she was not ready to die to ease the suffering of other people. Tyler understood that and that was probably why he left. Elena was relieved that he was not here anymore. She wouldn't be able to look him in the eyes after every full moon and know that he suffered because of her selfishness.

But this wouldn't be a problem anymore since right now she was about to die. She wondered if her friends at home were already looking for her and the Salvatore brothers. They weren't missing that long, just for a few hours. Bonnie and Caroline were probably looking for her since they wanted to meet her this evening. Hopefully Bonnie had casted a locator spell and they would find them before it was too late. Sheriff Forbes and Damon had a Founder's Council appointment. If he wouldn't show up, she'd start worrying and would send a search party for him. So there was at least some back-up.

Even if it would probably be too late for them. At the time their friends arrived Elena, Stefan, and Damon could be long dead. She didn't believed that Klaus had much patience and especially after the stunt that she just pulled. She could see that Klaus was incredibly pissed that she almost escaped. He eyed her with a stern expression on his face.

"Take her into the room! Tell Levita to get ready; we will do the sacrifice as soon as possible. But first I have to do some business with the Salvatores."

Elena's eyes grew wide, but before she could get one word out of her mouth she was grabbed by two vampires and dragged along. They pulled her past Klaus and through a short glance over her shoulder she could see him watching her be pulled away. She lost him out of her sight when they rounded a corner. They continued dragging her through a long and dark hall until they reached a big room what probably some day had been the living room of the huge house.

In the middle of the room was a big circle with candles. Elena counted thirteen tall, black and red candles. Twelve of them formed the circle and the last black one was placed directly in the middle of the ring. A petite woman stood next to this candle. She had flowing black hair and intense violet eyes that bored direct into Elena's own brown ones. The young woman stood perfectly still and just continued staring at Elena when the vampires shoved her into the circle. And then the woman started to speak.

"You look like her; but still different. You're prettier, stronger. Such a waste."

Her voice was high and it showed how very young she really was. Her aura was dominant and made clear that she was one powerful witch. This must be the witch that Klaus picked for doing the spell for the sacrifice. The witch crocked her head to the side and continued gazing at Elena. She slowly smiled and reached for her hand. A brown and a lilac gaze locked; slowly Elena reached over with her own hand and took the witch's cool one. The woman closed her eyes and Elena let out the breath that she had unintentionally been holding. The eyelids of the girl began to shiver and with a small gasp her eyes sprang open. She stared at Elena with wide eyes.

"Oh my God. Why? My God! I never imagined this. I'm so sorry."

Elena had no clue what just happened; she just saw the shock, hurt and pity in the big round eyes of the young woman in front of her. What had she seen when she touched her? For what was the girl that she didn't even knew sorry? Her confusion must have been able to see in her eyes because the witch continued speaking.

"You met him. You're mate. And now you're about to lose him. I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I'm …"

But she was interrupted by the harsh voice of the Oldest.

"Levita, I see you're having a nice conversation with the doppelganger. Sorry for interrupting but we have business to attend."

Klaus stepped into the room accompanied by about a dozen vampires from whom some were pushing Stefan and Damon into the room. Stefan bared his teeth and struggled against the hold of the vampires. Damon was still affected by the large amount of vervain in his blood but that didn't stopped him from hissing at the vampires. The brothers were pulled to the outside of the candle circle while Klaus stepped into the circle and slowly approached Elena.

"So little Miss Gilbert. Here we are at last. You didn't really think that you could escape, did you?"

Klaus eyed her with his head crocked to one side. Elena wasn't sure if he expected an answer but no matter what she was not able to give one. Her voice would probably tremble with fear and the last thing that she wanted to show was how much she was scared by the tall vampire. So she just shook her head and looked over to Stefan. In Stefan's eyes she could see the same fear that she felt. Both of them knew that this was the end.

"But still you decided to try make an escape. That was very stupid of you, little girl. You should have known better. And now I have no other choice than to show you the consequences."

Elena starred into the gray cruel eyes of the vampire that was standing directly in front of her. Klaus had been continued to stalk over to her and he did only stop when he was able to touch her. He carefully lifted her chin so that their gazes locked. Elena could see his pupils widen and his mouth open but in this moment they were interrupted by a coarse voice.

"It wasn't her choice to run. I compelled her, it's no her fault. Don't punish her for that."

It was Damon who tried to stop Klaus from hurting her. But Klaus didn't even bother to look up from her. He began to smile and Elena could feel the compelling oblige to hold his intense stare.

"You will stay here, no matter what is going to happen next. You will watch. And you will listen."

And with that he released her and took a few steps back. He turned to the witch that had been standing quiet and still next to her.

"How long until we can start the sacrifice?"

The woman answered with a short look through the window.

"I need the sun, so in a few hours earliest."

"That leaves us some time for a little game. Let's hear some things about Elena and her two vampires."

Klaus turned and stepped in front of Elena.

"Tell me, you want to know what will happen next, am I right?"

There was no way to lie to the Original so Elena just blurred out with the truth.

"Yes."

Klaus smiled at her when he saw that he had her in his hand.

"You see girl, we have everything that we need so in a few hours we will start with the sacrifice. We got you, the doppelganger. We have the moonstone since we found it in the house of the two brothers. We have a werewolf."

Elena looked up from the floor and met Klaus's eyes.

"You want to know who the werewolf is? Well, no one you know so this will not concern you. Other than that, we have the place of the massacre. And it is right here, under your feet. Some stupid humans build a house directly on one of the witches' most honored memorial place. So inhuman."

Klaus shook his head, acting shocked. Anger rose in Elena when she thought about one of the most malicious beings in the world telling her that her race was brutal and uncivilized. But she didn't dare hitting him the way she would do it with Damon. Klaus knew this so he just smiled at her and continued.

"As you see, we have enough vampires for the sacrifice. But you were so kind to bring your own ones. But I only need one for the sacrifice. What am I doing with the other one? Letting one go would be cruel, wouldn't it?"

And with that he turned and approached the Salvatores slowly. One green and one blue pair of eyes were fearful locked on Elena. But she wasn't able to follow Klaus. She just stood there and watched him march to them. Klaus stopped in front of Stefan and looked down on him. Without turning, he asked Elena:

"Did you ever hear about the soul mate prophecy? Of how two souls would join when they belong together? How everything would feel different, better after joining? How this is the meaning of life; to find your mate?"

Klaus slowly rounded Stefan so that he stood directly behind the two brothers. He looked over to her and a smile formed on his lips. Elena could see a swift movement and with horror she saw how Klaus pulled a stake out of his sleeve.

"And how heartbreaking and bestial the pain is when your soul's mate is ripped from you?"

And with those words the stake stroke. Two screams accompanied the movement of Klaus's hand.

Elena felt the pain, which filled two ice cold blue eyes, take over her own heart.


	6. Late Rescue

Chapter 6: _Late Rescue_

Elena screamed. Everything in Elena screamed. Her mind was spinning, clouded over by pain. She couldn't grab on to one clear thought. Every attempt to do so ended in the painful whimpering of her consciousness.

But if she referred to the humming in her head as painful then there was no word able to describe the agony that tore through her heart. It felt as if the stake that was buried in her vampire's chest had hit her own heart. She never felt that much pain before. It could not nearly be compared to the one time Katherine had tortured her through the bonding spell or when Elena herself had driven the cursed dagger in her stomach.

The pain she felt now made her want to die. And the worst part was that she knew that it wasn't her pain. Maybe she could have stood it when it was hers but knowing that someone she loved was sharing this horrible torture made her cry. She knew that it wasn't her who had taken the fatal blow. It wasn't her who should be screaming in terrible agony.

It was the silent, shocked vampire across the room. But he just stood there, eyes wide opened, the life slowly fading out of them. Pale skin began to crumble and turn a sickly gray, a color that showed the finality of the wound.

Elena felt her mind slowly slipping away into a nice, warm and welcoming darkness. But she could not let go of consciousness when there was still life and pain in darker growing eyes. Their gazes met and locked. Elena wanted to hold onto it as it drifted away.

But it was already too late. Heavy eyelids slid over gorgeous eyes and those eyes closed for the last time. Weak knees lost their last strength and buckled. The lifeless body fell to the ground. But it didn't hit the floor.

Two strong arms grabbed the falling body and the relaxed face was pressed against a broad chest. The other Salvatore had broken the firm grip of his guards to catch his brother. Elena could see how he held him protectively. He tilted the still head back, stroking the cold cheek.

"No, don't! Don't do this to me. Don't leave me. Brother, stay! Don't … please, no … no, no, no!"

His voice broke and he slipped down to the ground, sobbing, the still form in his arms. Both Salvatores were defeated; one's heart stopped beating, the other's stopped feeling.

The unbearable pressure on her heart left Elena's body, but so did all her strength. She sank to the floor, unable to stand any longer. She could breathe again and took large gulps of the cold air. The overwhelming pain had stopped. But now something else filled her heart and mind.

Loss. Grief.

It felt like something had been ripped off her and she had lost it forever. She lost him forever.

She lifted her head and looked over to her vampires. The still breathing young man pressed his forehead against his brother's. Elena could see his rocking shoulders, his wet cheeks, and his trembling lips that formed words too quiet to hear for her.

Two long legs came into her sight and blocked the view of the brothers. Hard hands grabbed her and pulled her to her still trembling and weak legs. If she hadn't been held up, she would have fallen back to the ground. She lifted her tear stricken gaze and met a cruel and calm bright one.

She looked at the man that had taken her everything from her and hard, cold hatred was overwhelming her.

"Why?"

She didn't recognize her own voice. It sounded dead. As dead as her heart felt.

And Elena realized that indeed something in her was dead, along with the brave vampire that gave his life for her. A sacrifice that she did not deserve. But he had been too stubborn. He would have died so that she could live. And now he really was dead. Karma was a bitch.

She couldn't live without him. And she wouldn't, reminded the strong grip on her lower arms her. Klaus mouth formed a smile.

"It broke you. It broke you, your will, your fight, your heart. I get power from that. You Petrovas are so powerful, yet you have no idea how to use this power. I could help you, make you fee…"

Klaus soft voice was interrupted by a dark arrow sticking out of his chest. Surprise filled the bright gray eyes. Elena stared at the arrow immediately. It looked exactly like the one that she pulled out of Damon's back a few weeks ago at Duke.

As soon as Klaus released her to pull the wooden stick out of his chest, she quickly turned. And what she saw took her breath away.

There were her friends, standing in the entrance of the big room, armed from head to toes. In the lead was Alaric, armed with a huge crossbow, aiming at Klaus's chest. So it had been him who had shot Elena's capturer.

To her teacher's right was Jeremy. He looked grim, ready to fight to death for his older sister. Even after everything that Elena had pulled to keep him safe and out of her war, she had never been able to really stop him from fighting for her. She hated it, but at the same time she was incredibly grateful for such a great brother.

Elena recognized another dark, hard face in the crowd that would do anything to prevent her friend from dying. Bonnie stood directly behind Jeremy, her arms tightly around his waist, eyes closed and her lips moving when she murmured ancient words. Vampires all around the room began to held their heads and scream in agony.

Two dark figures rushed over to the fallen vampires and finished them in a quick and efficient way. Without doubts these two female vampires were the other Petrovas, Isobel and Katherine.

A third light haired followed them. She stopped and turned to flash Elena a bright smile, which told Elena that Caroline must be in a great mood even if she fought against a whole house full of vampires that were hundreds of years older than she herself.

And this something that made Caroline beam with happiness was gathered behind Alaric. It was Jules, and next to her Tyler. And they fought along with Alaric and the others. This was a big surprise. Nobody had ever imagined the werewolves return. Not after what happened in the forest, the Lake House and the Boarding House. But here they were, fighting on their side. On the winning side.

Meanwhile all five humans had entered the fight that had aroused around the vampires and werewolves. Alaric and Jeremy were fighting back to back. They made a pretty good team, even though Alaric and Damon were considered partners in crime by everyone. Normally the vampire and the human had each other's back and they fought side by side. But Jeremy stood up to the expectations.

John held his ground alone and tried to stop the vampires from snapping his neck. But he didn't matter, he would come back anyway.

The most surprising sight was two petite women, holding wooden stakes and fighting off any vampire that tried to attack them. Vanessa and Jenna looked both scared but didn't back down.

'Team Badass', as Damon referred to their fighting unit, and its new members had the advantage in this fight, since they had the surprise effect on their side. About half of Klaus's minions were already dead, killed mostly by Katherine and Isobel. The other half was retreating, fleeing in great panic out of the old house into the dark night.

Klaus stared in disbelieving at his running vampires. His witch was among them, trying to push her way through the tall men. Klaus was furious. He had everything that he needed for the sacrifice right here and now he was losing it again. Without his powerful witch, everything else was useless. He turned his blonde head over to Elena.

"I will be back. Be prepared to die."

And with that he rushed out of the door, following his wildly fleeing group of cowards.

Elena and her friends were alone. Heavy breathing filled the room but it was silent otherwise.' Team Badass' was slowly calming down from the bloody fight.

Elena stared at them. They came. They were really here. They saved her.

"You're here."

And with that she sank to the ground, crumbled sobbing on the dirty floor. She heard Bonnie rushing over to her and felt her embracing her. Elena fell into the embrace, not wanting to face the brutal and heartbreaking reality yet.

But the pain, loss, and grief made her pull out of Bonnie's arms. She turned to the remaining Salvatore.

He looked over to Elena and she saw hot tears stream out of his eyes. Her heart broke all over again. He turned away from her and pulled his brother's limp body to his chest.

A sharp intake of air made Elena look up at Alaric. Her history teacher stared at the brothers, and Elena saw a painful and sad expression cross his face.

"Stefan…"

The Salvatore lifted his head slowly. His pained green eyes looked over at them. Stefan's voice was barely hearable and almost breaking.

"You're too late."

* * *

**A/N: Ahh come on guys!**

**If I get to 20 reviews, I'll continue ...**

**And if not ... well then I'm getting depressed and there will be probably no Chapter 7 and we will never know what happened to Elena after the rescue ...**

**So please?**

**LaLaina**


	7. Pain

Chapter 7: _Pain_

Dark night was all over Virginia. For some people it was darker than for others. And it was probably the darkest night in the life of a young human girl and a forever young man. A house somewhere in Virginia, near the small town called Mystic Falls, was the scene of a mournful act. The responsible for the crime was not there anymore. Left were only remains of the cruel action.

There was a young woman, not older than eighteen, crying on the floor, held by another girl with dark skin. The girl was stroking the back of the sobbing girl comfortingly.

Next to them was standing a man. His face showed a sad expression. He looked like he just lost his best friend.

A boy stood to his right, with almost the same expression on his face. The only difference between him and the man was that tears rolled down his cheeks. He made no attempt to whip them away.

Somewhere in the back of the room were five women standing. Two of them just stared at everybody, slightly confused with everything going on. The other three women were looking extremely uncomfortable. A girl, who looked exactly like the crying girl in the middle of the room, was rubbing her forehead like she had a terrible headache. The small woman to her left was pale and tears were forming in her eyes but with enormous effort she held them back. The blonde girl next to her in contrary had not the strength to hold hers back. They fell freely while she clutched her chest with one hand; obviously she felt great pain in her heart.

Three figures were approaching from the other side of the room. They stopped at the sight of the scene in front of them. The corner of the mouth of a young woman twisted into a triumphant smile. The boy behind her just looked confused at her and back at the scene in front of him. The man next to the woman was grinning like he had just won the jackpot.

All their eyes were glued to the couple in the middle of the room. It was a young man who clutched the lifeless form of an older boy to his chest. He seemed far away; he was not aware of anything around him, his whole mind was focused on stroking the ice cold cheek of the dead boy in his arms.

Dead silence filled the room as every person drifted away with their own thoughts about the latest events …

* * *

*oOo*

Caroline just stood there and watched Stefan cradle his brother's body in his arms. Her heart was aching with a pain she never felt before. It felt like a loved one had died. And she couldn't really count Damon as a family member.

But still it felt like a family connection had been broken when he died. It was worse than the time when her father left or when her mother said that she couldn't handle her anymore.

But this didn't make any sense. Damon was not her family, not even close. Well yes, he was her ex-boyfriend, but he use, manipulated and feed from her. Not a way to be remembered in a pleasant way. But still she stood here and felt sad for his death.

Maybe it was because she felt so bad for Stefan. She and Stefan were close, he was her best male friend. Damon's death must hit him hard. Caroline had always seen how close the Salvatore brothers were, even with them always fighting. She knew that it was just their way to show how much they loved each other. Damon would have never made his death threat become true. He loved his little brother way too much. And Stefan would have never let anyone harm Damon. She had heard Stefan threatening Mason after Mason had made clear that he would kill Damon on the next full moon. And she also heard the story about the cursed dagger. Elena had told her how worried Stefan was when he heard in what danger Damon had been.

Yes, Stefan would have done anything in his power to save his big brother. But obviously it hadn't been enough. Damon was dead.

And Caroline felt like someone had pierced her through the heart. There had been and still was a connection between her and Damon. A connection that slowly broke in this very moment, with every second that Damon was dead. The connection must be somewhat close to family.

And now it hit Caroline. This something that connected her to Damon was his blood. The blood that he gave to her in the night of the car accident. The blood that saved her life. And even if Katherine had killed and turned her, it was Damon's blood in her system that made her what she had become. So Damon would be seen as her creator.

And the bond between the created and the creator made her heart hurt right now. When she looked over to Isobel she could see that she felt the same. And a thought crossed her mind: how many people had Damon turned in his one hundred and seventy-something years? Did they all feel his death right now?

Caroline looked at the woman next to Isobel. Katherine was holding her head as if she had a dull headache. Anger welled up in her. Was that all what Katherine felt? Just an annoying headache. Damon had died. He was dead and Katherine didn't even care. He had loved her and she had tossed him away like he was nothing. Sometimes it was really amazing how heartless Katherine could be.

It was a shame that Damon had met Katherine. Without her, he wouldn't have died today. Well without him, Caroline would probably be dead too. But this would have saved them both the agony of their fucked up lives. Life would have been better for both of them.

But karma was a bitch.

*oOo*

Jeremy couldn't stand the sight of his fallen brother anymore. He looked down on the ground and closed his eyes. He could feel the hot tears stream down his cheeks. But he wasn't able to wipe them away. He felt numb. Everything felt unreal around him.

He hoped that this was just a bad dream. That he would wake up any second, on the couch in the living room, Bonnie at his side who had fallen asleep after a hard magic practice. He wished that the last four hours were just his imagination.

But the small sobs that could be heard in the room made this hope shutter. Everything was real. Klaus had come to take Elena, they found out about it just around half an hour later, they had prepared to fight, they had fought and they had won. Everything had worked in their favor.

Except for the fact that Damon had paid with his life for their delay. What if they would have been faster? Would it have made any difference? Could they have saved Damon's life?

These questions were irrelevant now. They had been too late and Damon was dead. They could never make the 'if' happen. But the 'if' would always be there. They would always blame themselves.

Would Stefan blame them? His older brother just died because of their incompetence. Would he ever forgive them? Jeremy knew he wouldn't. Because he understood Stefan's pain.

He felt the same. As if the big brother, that he never really had, was dead. Yes, Jeremy saw Damon as his brother. Even after everything that he had done. Maybe because of everything that he had done. He was one of the few people who had seen that Damon was just a human after all. Well, that he had been a human once.

He had been a man like every other, with corners and edges. Imperfect. Able to hurt, but at the same time able to be hurt. Wanting to be unable to feel, but filled to the breaking point with emotions.

He knew that Damon never really wanted to kill him. It was just a reflex to having his heart broken twice on one evening. If Damon wanted him dead, he would have been dead long ago. But he was still breathing.

And after the neck-snapping action, he began to respect the vampire. He began to understand him. They became allies, they became friends. But more important, they became brothers.

Damon became to older brother who would help annoy older sisters or judgy witches, even if one of those witches became the girlfriend you could still laugh with him over their furious comebacks. At least they weren't directed at you; Damon would get the full impact of the paybacks.  
All in all, a useful and pleasant big brother.

And Jeremy, he had become the little brother all over again. But this time, he had a big brother who was so much more fun than an older sister. They would crack up about the same jokes and wouldn't be judged by an annoying woman who found they sense of humor offensive. Damon told Jeremy once that he preferred him over Stefan any day. Not as much brooding, what he really appreciated. Of course Damon had been really drunk when he confessed this and couldn't remember this conversation the next day, but Jeremy hadn't forgotten. And he had seen the truth behind Damon's word.  
So all in all, a much less annoying and brooding little brother for Damon.

That was how their brotherhood worked. Or better, how it had worked. It would never work like this again. Their bond was shattered.

And something in Jeremy had broken along with it.

*oOo*

Bonnie held onto Elena, softly stroking her dark hair. She felt her best friend trembling under her touch. Elena was sobbing quietly. Bonnie knew that Elena was devastated. She may not have loved Damon in the way she loved Stefan but Bonnie knew that she had cared deeply for Damon.

She had never understood how Elena could care for him. Not until lately at least. When she had looked at Damon, she had never seen the same things Elena did. All she could see were the horrible things that he did, like killing Tanner, turning Vicki, almost killing her and killing Jeremy. She never accepted that there had been good in Damon. Never accepted the fact that he was human once and wanted nothing more than love and acceptance.

Her view of him however changed slightly in the last weeks. She saw what he did for Elena. She saw how much she meant to him and how much he loved her. How far he would go to prevent her from being hurt or killed. She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to accept that Damon was capable of feeling. But there was no way to look over the risk that Damon took every day to save her best friend. Hell, he almost died to take out Elijah so that the Original was not able to harm Elena.

She respected Damon for choosing Elena's life over his own. This made her hate him a bit less. It was much easier to work with someone that you didn't hate, but in their case they had no choice. They had to work together to save Elena. Their partnership started when he approached her with the request of locking Elena in her house. She had accepted since it was a pretty good idea at that time and probably the only good one that she ever heard from him. Their alliance had came all the way to their latest work together in the 'harness dead witches' powers' project.

And they did pretty well in it. Probably thanks to Jeremy. She had to admit that her work had gotten easier with the help of Jeremy. With the growing relationship between her and Jeremy she had to accept the fact that he and the elder Salvatore were friends. And as a good girlfriend she didn't want to make him choose between her and his friends. So she tolerated Damon.

She never really accepted him but she knew that she was grateful for having him on their side. He made Stefan as brooding as always, made Jeremy as human and witty as possible, Alaric as carefree as he could never be around anyone else, and Elena being protected as nobody else could. And he made Bonnie feel save around him. Nothing would harm her, except for Damon herself.

But this threat was now out of the way as well. Damon would never harm anyone, never threaten anyone, never kill anyone anymore.

And never protect anyone.

*oOo*

Alaric's whole body trembled. But he didn't even feel it. He was too consumed by pain.

His mind was filled with the grief over the loss of his best friend. He never saw Damon as his best friend. The guy killed his wife. Well, turned her on her own account, but still she was ripped from him by Damon. He wanted to kill Damon for this. Damon succeeded in this task. Damon killed him. And still they became friends. Not just friends but best friends.

How did this happen? A question that would never be answered because no one knew the answer. Alaric never believed in true love. Not until he met Isobel. But just a few months ago this belief was shattered again. He saw how imperfect his 'true love' really was. And he saw again that there could be no true love since nobody was able to accept every imperfection that came with love. He just saw this now again with Jenna. He loved her and she loved him. But she couldn't stand his lies anymore so she just surrendered. She threw everything down and dropped out.

He thought about friendship the same. You could be friends but one day every flaw, every lie, every misunderstanding would crush down on you and your relationship. And you wouldn't be able to stand it anymore. And even every oh so great friendship would be over.

No, Alaric didn't believe in the perfection of the best friends' relationship. Not until he met Damon. Damon opened his eyes. He showed him the positive views of the life. He showed him what friendship could mean. He showed him how to enjoy it and life itself. Which was kind of ironic since Damon was dead and had never had a happy life when he had been alive.

But Damon was able to look over all of this and made other people happy. He himself would never be. And he knew this. Alaric knew it too. And Alaric knew something else as well.

Damon hated what he had become when Katherine turned him. He lost what meant the most to him: his humanity. He lost his life and everything that came with it. Alaric as a History Teacher knew about the people of then. He knew that reputation meant everything to them. And he knew that Damon lost everything that he ever cared about as a human. And with his death he lost the only thing that he had left: his life.

Alaric knew that Damon never got over this. This final loss made Damon to what he was these days. One day Damon would not have been able to take it anymore. It would have been the end of him.

But Alaric had tried everything to prevent it from happening. He got to know Damon. And he realized that they were not that different. Both of them lost the woman that they loved, both of them were losing their women all over again, and both of them had been just a step before ending their lives. Of course that led to bonding.

And this bond had become the start of a rough and shaky friendship. It was like a rough diamond: unpolished, but getting subtle with every touch; extremely precious, but for outsiders hard to see.

And now this friendship had come to an abrupt and hard end.

'Best Friends stay together forever' was still a myth.

*oOo*

Elena buried her face once again in Bonnie's shoulder. Her feelings were floating her mind and heart. It hurt so damn much, too much. She wanted it to stop. She wanted to shut off her feelings. Why were humans not allowed to do so? It would be so much easier. She understood now why Damon had done it.

And she had been too stupid and had judged him for this. Oh how naïve she had been. He had experienced so much more pain and disappointments in his long life than she would ever do. And she had been the one to stand in front of him and asked him to be the better man.

How could you be the better man when the pain was eating you away with every breath you took? She didn't know what she was talking about. But still Damon hadn't made clear how impossible her request was.

No, he had tried to satisfy her wishes. A wish that was formed by naivety. Why didn't he stop her? He was so much older, he had to know better. But now she saw that he would have done everything for her. He would save her repentantly. He would have changed herself for her. He would have died for her.

Why did he have to be so stubborn? It had been his end. Oh how much she hated him for his stubbornness. How much she loved him for it. It matched her own so perfectly well. She had been too stubborn to admit that there had been more between her and Damon Salvatore.

She had admitted that she cared for him. But she had never admitted that she really loved him. She had never been in love with him. But she had loved him for what he was, for everything that he stood for: danger, beauty, protection, love, eternity.

She loved all those things but together they were almost irresistible. Almost. One thing had always stopped them from coming together.

Fear.

Her fear of the wildness and intensity of his love. His fear of being hurt and broken all over again.

She had even been too afraid to test it. She denied everything, she even lied to herself. But it had been of no use. The truth caught always up to you. And this time the truth had been painful.

Her Soul's Fate was shattered. It lay broken right in front of her. It had been crushed by the unforgiveness of a hard wooden stake.

Life was not fair, she wanted to scream out into the world. But no sound came out of her mouth. One thought was constantly repeated in her mind, Why me? The world was crushing down on her. She felt like she was the only person in the world who had to face so much cruelty.

Oh how naïve she was, again. There was one person who had faced way more cruelty than she ever would. And what did he get for his bravery to face it and not giving up, no matter how much it hurt? Rejection, disapproval, detestation.

Life was unfair.

*oOo*

Stefan heard about the myth of reliving every guilt that fell onto you. Though he never believed in it. It was only a myth. He had killed many people in his life and he had never been hunted by guilt. Not for long anyway.

But in this moment, right there on the dirty floor in the middle of an old huge living room, all his guilt caught up with him. He saw his life rushing through his mind, he saw the pictures of his human life being played right in front of his eyes.

He saw himself at his mother's funeral, standing next to Damon who looked down into the opened grave of his mother. He could see the tears running down his brother's cheeks. The young boy just lost the most important person in his life. And it had been Stefan's fault. Their mother had never recovered from the birth of her youngest child. She had fallen ill a lot after the delivery of her baby. And this last illness had taken a toll on her weak body. She died after weeks of suffering. And she left two little orphaned boys and a devastated husband. Stefan looked up and saw his father standing on the other side of the grave. His father looked at Damon with a grim expression.

And this had been Stefan's second fault. He saw Damon crouched down in one corner of the room, looking fearfully up to his father who stood over him. Stefan could hear his father snarl at the small boy. Salvatores don't show weakness, he had said. They never give up, they never show fear, and they never ever cry.

Stefan broke this rule right now. He sat broken on the floor, the limp form of his brother cradled in his arms. Big tears rolled down Stefan's face and splashed down on Damon's perfect features.

Nobody had ever seen Damon for what he really was. He had always been compared to his brother, his father, even his mother. He was not his brother; he was too wild, too careless. He was not his father; he was too kind, too emotional. He was not his mother; he was too selfish, too rough.

He was Damon. But nobody saw it. Nobody accepted it. And maybe that was Stefan's fault too. Everybody who met both Salvatore boys saw the good boy and the bad boy. The well raised boy and the never tamed boy. The appropriate and inappropriate boy. The choice of the favorite Salvatore was quickly made.

And it would always be Stefan. Damon never blamed him. In fact he even told Stefan that it wasn't his fault. He would smile and say that life was just unfair and that you had to take the lemons that it gave to you.

But there is only so much pain a man can take. And Damon clearly had taken too much. All because of Stefan. Because he made it his job to protect the younger boy from the bad of the world.

Other things that didn't went in Damon's favor but in Stefan were the war and the inheritance. Damon would get send away to fight for the South, to fight for something that he didn't even believed in. Stefan always knew how much Damon hated slavery and there he was, fighting to keep slavery intact. And Stefan, he would stay at home, learning how to handle money, how to manage the farm. And wondering if he would ever see his brother alive again.

Their father didn't cared, actually he was hoping that Damon would never return. It would be way easier to make Stefan the sole heir if the eldest Salvatore son would fall in the war. Damon would never see any penny of his inheritance. And it was Stefan's fault all over again.

But fate wanted it a different way. It wanted Damon to suffer in his death. So it made sure that he returned. And it made sure that he would fall in love with the only woman who would never love him back. So that his heart would break over and over again, every time he watched his brother with the woman he loved. And he did nothing to stop it. Because he loved his little brother so damn much. Stefan was never blamed, but it would always remain his fault.

Damon died. Maybe this wasn't Stefan's fault. It was his father's. He pulled the trigger of the gun that ended Damon's life. But everything else that led to the event of them being killed, Stefan was to blame for this. But as if his death was not enough, Stefan forced his brother to turn. He couldn't stand the thought of being alone. And Damon had to pay the price for Stefan's incapability of living his life. Once more.

And then there was this one time, the _only _time Damon blamed him. He blamed him for everything that happened to Katherine. Maybe this time it wasn't Stefan's fault alone but he took the blame. And he couldn't handle it. He was blamed once and it was too much for him. He threw down everything and left. He began to hate his brother for giving him the fault.

And this hatred led them here. It led them back to Mystic Falls, back to their foe, and back to the woman they loved. And Damon was once again underprivileged. Stefan got the girl that Damon loved, Stefan got the life Damon longed for, and Stefan got the love that Damon would never get.

When Damon got one thing in his life then it was injustice that he never deserved. Because it wasn't Damon who did wrong, it had been all the people around him. He got unfairness, pain, and scorn. And those things led unavoidable to one thing.

An undeserved death.

*oOo*

* * *

The silence was getting unbearable. The people who weren't in grief were slowly retreating to let the mourning some room. They were collecting their stuff and pulled two or three survivors out of the mass of bodies.

But just when they were about to exit the room, the boy raised his head and began slowly to rise. He pulled the limp body with him. The dark head of the young man in his arms lolled lifelessly back until I came to rest against a broad chest.

The young man bit back tears that were threatening to spill, adjusted the weight in his arms, and turned.

"We're done here. Let's go."

And with that he left the room, leaving behind a devastated group of saviors.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I'm back...**

**This took me like forever and 4 days to write, but one night with a lot of Pepsi got me to finish it ... and what's weird, I don't even like Pepsi ...**

**Well, anyway, back to the story...**

**Yes, I know nothing really happened, just a long-little fill chapter, but I just had to show how's everybody feeling after Damon's death.**

**So sorry if anyone is disappointed ... **

**And would you guys make me happy with at least 26 reviews? I would be so grateful...**

**And a big thanks to all those people who reviewed, favored and alerted this story ...**

**I love you guys!**

**LaLaina**

**PS.: Anybody excited because of 2morrow? I sure am! Can't wait to see some Delena fluff! And I'm pretty curious about who is going to die...**

**PPS.: Oh my freakin' Gosh! I just reread this chapter and saw all those many mistakes! And it's already posted! I'm so sorry...I'm already on handling them...**


	8. Soul Mates

Chapter 8: _Soul Mates_

Three days.

It had been three days since the dreadful day when Klaus showed up on their doorsteps. Three days since she had almost lost her life. Three days since she lost her soul.

She had locked herself in her room, hiding under her blankets, and not talking to anyone. Not Jenna, not Stefan, not even Bonnie.

Jenna had tried multiple times to get her to come out of her room but her pleas were met by deaf ears. Jenna didn't understood what was going on. Elena knew that her aunt was well aware of the fact that Damon had died. She had heard the older woman comfort an emotional broken Alaric who showed up on her doorsteps the very same night his best friend died. But Jenna didn't know why Elena was acting as if her world had fallen down. Damon wasn't her boyfriend. Stefan was, and Stefan was perfectly fine. Damon was just her boyfriend's brother whom she cared about but who shouldn't be the reason of her sitting in her room, shutting everyone out, and crying to death.

But she was and nobody understood. The only person who would understand was Stefan. He was probably the only one other than Damon who could get to her in a moment like that. But Stefan was too wrapped up in his own grief to notice his girlfriend's agony. Elena hadn't talked to Stefan since she followed him out of the old building. The sight of her boyfriend having his back turned to her and carrying the lifeless form of his beloved brother still haunted her every time she closed her eyes to let sleep claim her. She would wake up every time, Damon's name on her lips, and the painful memories rushing through her head.

She hadn't slept for three days. She couldn't. She was not able to stand the pain that sleep and dreams brought. And there was nothing in the world that could help her right now. Stefan hadn't called and to be honest, Elena didn't want his company at the moment. She didn't want anyone with her. She wanted to sleep and forget. But something stopped her. When she just could have one clear moment, one moment to take her the time to consider everything …

She heard someone knock softly on her bedroom door. It must be Bonnie. She had been here the other days, trying to help Jenna to lure her out of her safe den. It hadn't worked. Jenna and Bonnie had retreated after Elena had a total breakdown on the second day and screamed at them until her throat hurt. But still Bonnie was back, keeping up with the promises of a best friend.

"Elena? May I come in?"

Elena heard her door carefully being pushed open and gentle footsteps entering her room. Bonnie didn't even wait for being invited in, she just took the opportunity of a calmed down Elena to talk. Elena could hear her best friend approach her bed after closing the door softly. She felt the mattress sink a bit when Bonnie sat down on the end of the bed. The young witch sighed.

"Elena, I know that you don't want us here. But you need someone right now. You need to talk about it. Let someone take away some of the pain."

Elena groaned when she heard Bonnie talk. What she heard right now was just foolish talk. How would talk about it help in any way? Damon was dead, end of story. There was no certain point of view from where you could look onto this fact. Sometimes even the philosophy of one of the greatest Jedi-Masters was shattered under the heavy impact of reality.

"Please, Elena. Just try it! You know we're here for you. Open up to us."

Elena knew that Bonnie wasn't going to withdraw and leave her alone any time soon. In fact, Bonnie would stay until Elena was willing to talk. And even if it took all the time of the world, Bonnie would stay. Elena could choose now between the easy way and the hard way.

So she chose easy. She pushed her blanket away and stared over to her friend. Bonnie's dark and calm eyes met her own furious ones. She didn't want this. Why didn't they understand it?

"I don't want to talk about it! There is nothing to talk about."

Bonnie continued to look at her with that sad expression that she had been wearing since the day her best friend locked herself in a room and refused to communicate with anyone.

"I know."

The witch's calm and gentle sentence caught her off guard. She hadn't expected Bonnie to retreat. But the girl just sat there and looked over to Elena.

"So … what did you came for then?"

"If you don't want to talk about it just yet, that's fine with me. But you need to get out of here. You're just depressing yourself."

Elena threw the cover over her head again and sighed. Maybe Bonnie didn't make her talk but she still wanted her to leave her safe bed and go out there to face the cruelness of life. She mumbled a quiet "Not yet" into her blanket and closed her eyes.

The quietness from the end of the bed made clear that Bonnie had heard her. But she didn't protest. Instead Elena could hear her pick up the bag that she had dropped next to her bed. The rustle of paper made Elena think that Bonnie had pulled out a book and she guessed that it was one of the Grimoires.

"You know, Stefan told me what happened. And I looked over the Grimoires and I found this. It's talking about the Soul Mate Prophecy."

So there really was a prophecy. Not that she had doubted it after what she felt right now, but she was still surprised when she heard Bonnie say this. Slowly she pulled her blanket back and peered out from under it. A thick book which was opened and showed a text that was probably Latin, lay in Bonnie's lap.

"Do you want me to read it to you?"

Bonnie's question was soft and showed that she would accept either answer. Maybe it hurt Elena too much to listen to it since it would remind her of Damon. But on the other hand, didn't she want to know what was causing this immense pain?

"Yes, please."

Elena's voice was barely hearable and about to break but the doe brown pleading eyes said everything. Bonnie cleared her throat and began reading.

"The Soul Mate Prophecy is one of the oldest Prophecies ever made. It is one of the only, if not _the_ onlypure Prophecy. It's accepted by all species. Witches, as the keeper of the Balance, are responsible for the Soul Mate Balance too.  
This Balance is kept well in place. Even though the Prophecy is so important, it is not very often given to people. Only few people earned the right to meet their soul mate. Those were mostly people who, in the eyes of the Balance Keepers, had earned this right by honorable actions. "

Bonnie looked up to Elena to see any reaction but Elena just blankly stared at the opposite wall. Her thoughts were far away, probably not even in this world but in a far darker one. Despite the lack of reaction from her friend to the just heard, Bonnie continued.

"Since the beginning of the Prophecy there were problems. It was possible to love people of another species but such love was excluded from the Prophecy. The witches said that it was impossible to see a love between different kinds as a pure bond. The love of a young vampire and a werewolf, sworn enemies until this day, yet convinced them otherwise which led to an open of the Prophecy for any love.

"However, it still came to complications with the vampires since they actually died and with them their soul and the chance for a soul mate. Vampires were not allowed to have soul mates because they would survive them and through this the whole point of the Soul Mate Prophecy was destroyed. Still vampires are not excluded from the Prophecy; they're punished in another way: either they're never able to find their soul mate or their relationship is doomed from the beginning and without a happy ending."

Bonnie took a deep breath and glanced over to Elena. Tears were swimming in her brown eyes but they weren't spilled yet. Elena's voice was hoarse when she asked one single question.

"Does it say anything about the consequences of the loss of your soul mate?"

Bonnie looked over the page and nodded slowly.

"It was never heard about anyone finding his soul mate and losing it again. No vampire was ever able to earn the right for a soul mate and every other creature with a soul mate was protected by witches to prevent them from losing their soul's mate. So the effects of losing him or her were never truly experienced by anyone. But you could say without doubt that it would be the most painful punishment for mind and soul."

This was too much to bear for Bonnie. She dropped the book and cradled her absolutely still friend in her arms.

"I'm so sorry, 'Lena. I truly am. I wish I had been strong enough to fulfill my duties and protect the Soul Mates. "

Elena was numb. All she could think about were the words of the young witch in the house. She had known that Elena and Damon were a pair of those rare Soul Mates. But she had betrayed her duties and had handed them over to Klaus's cruelness. How could she? She had betrayed her whole species with this one unforgiveable act.

The sight of the young woman was clouded by the rising wetness in her eyes. And finally it spilled and ran down her cold cheeks. Sobs erupted from her throat and she began to cry into Bonnie's shirt. And so the two friends sat there on the bed and let the tears stream down their faces. They probably sat there for hours until Elena was calmed enough to talk.

"I miss him so much. I never realized how much losing him would hurt. And now I can't stand it. I … I can't stand it!"

Elena felt Bonnie's hand run down her back in a reassuring way. But suddenly the cold fingers stopped and Bonnie pushed her back. Elena could see in the dark eyes that her friend understood her implied message. Bonnie stared at her with wide opened eyes that showed her shock of Elena's confession.

"Don't give up, you have to fight. If you don't fight, then Damon died for nothing!"

Bonnie nearly begged her but all Elena could do was shake her head. Why did nobody listen to her when she said things that truly came from her heart?

"But I don't want to fight! You see, Bonnie? There is nothing to fight for. My future is worthless. Because my soul lost its fate. It lost its mate! _I_ lost my soul mate. You don't understand this, because you haven't found yours yet. But I feel what it means with every second that I'm breathing. My soul wants to join his, but they can't. Because he is not here anymore! So tell me, what keeps me here? Nothing! Because I'm going to die anyway. Without him, my soul is going to die. So why not speed up the process and save someone's life this way?"

Elena tried to make the young witch understand but Bonnie was shaking her head stubbornly. She would never give up her best friend.

"Elena, I underst…"

But Elena burst out and interrupted her.

"Nothing! You understand nothing!"

She glared at Bonnie and her normally soft eyes sparkled wildly.

"But you know what? I know you understand this: Out!"

Bonnie's eyes grew wide and she stared shocked at Elena.

"Elena…"

"I said out! Leave! Leave me alone! I don't want anybody right now. Hell, maybe I don't want anyone in like forever! So just leave me alone."

And it was true. She wanted nobody here who would tell her that everything was going to be fine. They would just tell her lies. And she was tired of those lies. Everybody lied to her. And she called those people her friends! Friends didn't lie to each other. Or at least they shouldn't.

Elena had lied to her friends to protect them. But right now their lies were no use! They wouldn't keep her safe from Klaus. It was just denial. And she was done with denying. She couldn't deny anything anymore. She couldn't deny her fear of Klaus, she couldn't deny the worry about her friends and she couldn't deny her pain from the loss of Damon.

No, she didn't need anyone right now. And she didn't want anyone.

She just wanted him.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah I should probably stop with those stupid Authors Notes but I do it anyway...**

**So this was Chapter 8 ... hope some people like it even if it talks about nothing...**

**Sooo who's just as excited as I am? I knew Damon was going to be bitten! The synopsis said it!**

...

**But actually there is something else I wanted to ask you...**

**I guess some of you heard about the tornadoes that went through the U.S.**

**Well I live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and one of the tornadoes hit us pretty bad, it's in the news everywhere, even in Germany ... even Obama was in town to look at the damage**

**So people, please think about those who didn't survived the storm and those who lost everything ...**

**And if in any way possible, please help!**

**Thanks guys!**

**LaLaina**


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